The Penang state health department says in response that it, Socso, and Penang-based private medical practitioners have agreed for Covid-19 screenings to be conducted in stages as a temporary measure.
The Malaysian government is finalising agreements to buy Chinese vaccines Sinovac and CanSino, as well as Russia’s Sputnik V shot, that include domestic fill-and-finish work.
Dr Kelvin Yii says the best platform for Khairy Jamaluddin to clarify Malaysia's Covid-19 vaccine procurement is at the parliamentary select committee on health, science and innovation.
During the first movement control order implemented nationwide, Malaysia suffered a loss of gross domestic product earnings of up to RM300 million per day.
A Covid-19 vaccine must be first registered by the US’ FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), among the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency's (NPRA) requirements for vaccine approval in Malaysia.
The estimated monetary loss from presenteeism (working with reduced functioning while sick) is as high as about RM26,000 per person per year for migraine sufferers with more than three migraine days a month, nearly eight times higher than those with three or fewer days of migraine monthly at about RM3,000.
Safety or lower efficacy issues with Chinese vaccines, which have yet to show Phase 3 clinical trial results, could delay vaccine access for Asian countries to the end of 2021, says Fitch Solutions.
Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also reported that two clusters have been identified in Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang: Yayasan and Batu Sembilan clusters.